Flowery Branch Karate - Your Mistakes Make You Awesome

It's easy to fail at something, but it takes more effort to get back up. And as a kid, experiencing failures hit hard and sometimes leave scars. It feels humiliating and may cause people to stop what they like to do. But if you’re around the right kind of people and environment, making a mistake can help you grow rather than tear you down.

At Choe’s HapKiDo, students experience hands on that staying persistent contributes to the success of reaching goals. Whether it’s to attempt a kick over and over or to improve in other areas, they learn to brush off mistakes and to carry on. And the more mistakes they make, and the more they struggle with a certain kick, they can improve because guidance is always available. And within each belt accomplished, students increase in self-esteem and confidence and build their experience of reaching new levels through good practice and hard work.

In a way, failure gives people hope because it is known for a fact that we aren’t born perfect; it is in our nature to make mistakes so to become.....................................................................AWESOME.

For more information on Choe’s HapKiDo, visit here. 

Flowery Branch Karate - Seeing Individuals Grow Makes Us Happy!

Our motivation to teach HapKiDo Karate comes from the continuous success from our students. When we see children, teens, and adults grow physically and mentally, it makes us happy. We see that our mission to help the surrounding communities is working. We get excited there is continuous growth because it is wonderful to envision a world full of inspiring leaders.
Check out these awesome success stories by parents and students at Choe's HapKiDo!

Choe's HapKiDo in Cumming

 

HapKiDo Assistant Instructor likes self-defense and teaching peers!

Choe's HapKiDo in Grayson

Proud HapKiDo dad has seen the great impacts of the program on his kindergartener!

Choe's HapKiDo in Duluth

Choe's HapKiDo student's big sister has enjoyed watching her brother transform while being in the karate program. In addition to being more involved with school activities, this program has also helped him with focus and discipline.

Choe's HapKiDo in Loganville

HapKiDo Dad has watched his son grow in class. From learning about respect to advancing in belts, he believes Choe's HapKiDo has done great things for his son.

Choe's HapKiDo in Flowery Branch

HapKiDo Mom shares how Choe's HapKiDo has positively influenced her 5-year-old. He has grown in self-confidence and other areas in character development.
For more information on I Love Martial Arts Georgia, visit here.

The Zen on Meditation - Flowery Branch Karate

At I Love Martial Arts Georgia, we guide individuals through all sorts of exercise to promote for a stronger, better life. One workout that we guide classes through is usually done right before warming up our bodies. In the martial arts world, meditation serves as a tool to connect the mind to the body.

According to Instructor Gasstrom from Choe’s HapKiDo in Loganville, “…your mind plays a significant part when doing physical training and conditioning as it will determine how long you will be able to handle the intensity of the workout. Therefore, by training your mind to overcome greater lengths and amount of workout, you will be able to have even better results.”

As fierce and wild as meditation sounds, it should not be overlooked as useless. It is simple, yet can be powerful. Neurologists have observed beneficial changes to the brain for those that undergo meditation: it can decrease pain sensitivity, improve mood associated to depression and anxiety, increase focus which greatly affect those with ADD/ADHD, and influence to be more awake and relaxed (Dvorsky).

While some studies have shown great changes to those who meditated five hours a day, people can receive benefits from this exercise by attempting 20 minutes a day. The mind is an incredible creation, as it can “memorize how much your body can handle and send it signals…[and] your body will perform against the limitations you set for yourself and improve with repetition (Gasstrom).

Meditation will not work like other forms of exercise because it’s in a zone of its own. If someone is looking for a way to relieve stress, then all forms of exercise including meditation will do. But if someone desires to improve in areas like mood, concentration and breathing, then meditation should be given a try. Especially if it is something that people can get into, it can be so beneficial to one’s health.

For more information on I Love Martial Arts Georgia, visit here.

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Written by Christie McGowan

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Citations

Dvorsky, George. “The Science Behind Mediation, and Why It Makes You Feel Better.” i09.com. Kinja, 2013. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

Gasstrom, John. “Martial Arts Lesson of the Week- Connecting Mind and Body.” Choe’s HapKiDo of Youth. Bogger. 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.


Image Used from depositphotos.com

Flowery Branch Karate - We're #1!

I Love Martial Arts Georgia makes it a mission to change its surrounding communities one black belt at a time. Originated from South Korea, Choe's HapKiDo is designed to train people of all kinds. It has impacted the lives of children, teens, adults, siblings, parents, and more!
Check out these heart-felt HapKiDo testimonies:

At Choe's HapKiDo in Cumming, junior instructor Gaby is excited to soon be testing for her black belt! She enjoys guiding children and being an excellent leader!

Junior instructor Liam excitedly shares the cool things to gain at Choe's HapKiDo in Grayson. He loves his new friends, physique, and uniform!

At Choe's HapKiDo in Duluth, this two-year-black-belt expresses how the program continues to teach him self-discipline and respect!

Student Aiden Ty enjoys his new lifestyle at Choe's HapKiDo in Loganville. He always looks forward to learning new self-defense moves and new lessons in self-discipline!

Choe's HapKiDo in Flowery Branch is #1 according to Assistant Instructor Matt. You get to learn self-defense and grow in self-confidence!

For more information on I Love Martial Arts Georgia, visit here.

Flowery Branch Karate - Be Part of Our Karate Family!

Choe's HapKiDo in Flowery Branch helps people of all sorts. Especially if you have finished school, or find yourself stuck in life, this place provides great distraction. There is always something to look forward to, and you are definitely not wasting time when learning an ancient martial art while also becoming part of a cool community.

First, there are the peers. You bow in and out of class together, you help each other improve, and you even fight each other – in the most respectful way possible! You develop respect for everyone, and you learn to work with all kinds of people.

Then there are the parents. Whether it is your parent or somebody else’s, you still connect. As your peer’s parents are watching their kid(s), they have been watching you too.

Class would not be the same without the assistant instructors. These students drive the class, induce positive energy, and provide a good example of what to work towards.

And of course, everyone likes the instructors and the head instructor. These people influence everyone around them. They always have good advice.

HapKiDo events add to the warm quality of the community. Meeting founder Grandmaster Choe and HapKiDo students from other branches is always fun. From belt tests to competitions, meeting other people who also share your martial arts passion is eye opening.

These people become a part of your life in the best way possible. You see them so often, that you cannot help but to like them all.

For more information on Choe’s HapKiDo in Flowery Branch, visit here.

Flowery Branch Karate - We Bring Out Your Best!

People go through many stages in life. We spend a good portion of it sleeping, going to school, finding/maintaining a job, and finding other ways to spend time that would add value to our lives. At some point in the journey, a person may become health conscious and start building up time that revolves around everything to do with this field. Regardless of how the fitness stage goes, people tend to find that their lives become better. They learn that by taking care of themselves through fitness, diet, and etc. become important assets to their healthy well-being. This phase of life is also exciting because a person finds out what he/she is physically and mentally capable of.

According to an article found on EFitnessHub, the top five fitness trends of 2015 include martial arts!
Far from being a monotonous workout, Choe’s HapKiDo karate can be the tool you need to help engage in exercise. It is a martial art that is designed to bring out the best in everyone. On top of increasing strength, it is a sport that builds confidence and demands concentration. A wonderful community of instructors and peers also derive from all its locations. Our HapKiDo program is flawless at guiding people to their utmost potential.

Skills learned in Choe’s HapKiDo classes are not only temporary, but stay with individuals for a long  time as they contribute to shaping all in the best way possible.

For more information on Choe’s HapKiDo, visit here.

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Written by: Christie McGowan

Girls and Karate - Flowery Branch Martial Arts

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We are at an exciting day and age where an increasing number of women participate in martial arts. What used to be a strictly male sport, people are now greatly accepting more possibilities.

Introducing girls to martial arts, like Choe’s HapKiDo, shows them what life has to offer. While girls may like completely different things than boys, they understand that it’s perfectly okay to be themselves and to learn martial arts too. When they see that boys and girls alike both rock at HapKiDo karate, they also pick up that it is important to do just as well in other areas of life.

In addition to developing physical strength and endurance, girls also learn the importance of self-respect, confidence, perseverance, and focus. And with a well-rounded martial arts program, girls can also have the opportunity for leadership roles that will allow them to lead classes, to guide students, and to give speeches.

With a little HapKiDo karate added to your child’s life, s/he will grow up to be a strong individual who always aim to succeed.

For more on Choe’s HapKiDo, visit here.

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Written by: Christie McGowan

Happy 2015! - Flowery Branch Karate & Kickboxing

Happy New-Years-Eve Eve! As 2014 is approaching its final days, you are well on your way to start a new year!

Choe's HapKiDo would like to thank everyone for a wonderful year of HapKiDo and Kickboxing! No matter what, be proud of the progress and accomplishments achieved within this year.  Whether you had just started or been growing all year, you have had many great moments to remember. We would like to say thanks for being a part of your year!

Happy New Years, and we look forward to an awesome 2015!

Confidence is Important to a Child's Success in School

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 If anything, having confidence leads people to try and to persevere. When people are equipped to apply these ideals on the fly, life is more approachable, more successful. Oftentimes, people find they need to improve this area in their lives. Because it is easier to tear ourselves down with negative thoughts, we also get discouraged. 

When it comes to students at school, sometimes it is a confidence booster that the children need in order to do well. In class, it is easy to be intimidated by peers, teachers, the level of work, and the need to speak up.

With a little bit of training in HapKiDo karate, we excitedly watch children grow in confidence in multiple areas. With the martial arts instructors constantly engaging the students in encouragement, students eventually find they can start encouraging themselves. It can be said that training at Choe’s HapKiDo in Flowery Branch builds and repairs the wings of many kinds of people. And when children are walking around with confidence as a guide, they become more content with themselves.

HapKiDo karate training in Flowery Branch gives its students opportunities to practice giving speeches, to develop a positive mind, and to learn new skills. Our training helps students realize their full potential and to always believe they can strive for more.

When students can incorporate HapKiDo training while attending school, they are able to shine in class. They develop confidence to try to speak up in class and to always attempt everything with a 100%.

For more information on Choe’s HapKiDo Karate in Flowery Branch, visit http://www.braseltonmartialarts.com/index.php. Also follow us on Facebook!

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Written by: Christie McGowan

How Respect is Seen at Flowery Branch HapKiDo

Writing Contributor: Christie McGowan

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If not for respect, and if everyone instead acted on self-preferences, the world would be in constant chaos. Just imagine it – a world lacking respect would result everyone being more careless and less trustworthy. People wouldn’t care about others so much, and people would be greedier because gratitude would also not exist.

The effects of respect—showing gratitude, trust, and sensitivity towards others—allows peace to be possible. For example, respect between the bond of parent and child allows both sides to grow positively. If the child shows respect towards parent, it means he/she understands the purposes for parents. From years of receiving shelter and love, children grow up with gratitude and try to show it—if not from listening and obeying, then definitely through holidays and birthdays. If children show respect, then parents will also have respect for them. So, for there to be peace, everyone has to be on the same page.

At Choe's HapKiDo in Flowery Branch, we care to influence respect to our students. Through practices of different styles of bowing and attentive listening, HapKiDo students carry the principles of respect into other areas of their lives: home, school, work, and social events. And eventually, they realize that they have also gained respect from their surrounding peers.

For more information on Choe’s HapKiDo in Flowery Branch, visit: http://www.braseltonmartialarts.com/index.php.

Self-Discipline Gives You More Control

It’s the little things that we miss

[Ignoring mom and eating more than 2 cookies

Buying something you didn’t plan on

Having a mean comment put you in a bad mood

Getting onto Facebook too often during study hours

Letting self to not finish a book]

Before they escalate.

[Consuming an entire plate even though full

Having a closet full of unused and old stuff

Pushing over your brother because he hit you first

Lacking the ability to concentrate

Dismissing a goal]

But with a little self-discipline,

[Watching your portions

Making effort to give and save

Calming down

Avoiding distractions

Pushing through]

You happily accept the consequences!

[Looking good

Being good

Feeling good

Clapping good

Mighty good]

. . .

Self-discipline is the key when training at Choe's HapKiDo in Flowery Branch. Students learn to tackle all situations with perseverance, decision making, and good attitude. Watch your child grow within a year’s worth training. You’ll notice a big change in your child’s stride.

For more information, visit: http://choeshapkido.com/flowery-branch/.

-By: Christie McGowan-

Kids and Sports.

It seams to me that little, well I am not going to use any names like Johnnie, or Billy. For what I am about to say I will call them "little PC" (politically correct). So little PC goes out for a sport and is on a team. Unfortunately little PC is not very good at chosen sport. He/She sits with the other participants and watches the event and gets a trophy for just being there. The everybody wins no matter what is a great up lifting idea to make all the kids happy and better in life. So then we have a group growing believing they are entitled to whatever life has to offer as opposed to earning it. In Martial Arts you are not entitled to be a good kicker or get a belt you are to earn it. Yes there are some places that may give you the next level or belt with out showing proficiency, that is not the way here at Choe's HapKiDo the no one is left behind attitude has been left behind or not up for consideration. You must earn each rank and show a good understanding and skill level to move on. This helps to drive a student to develop ambition and feel a sense of accomplishment with each rank. The entitlement program is not a Martial Art way or a way that I want to have my child learn. It does nothing for self-discipline if you think that you can just show up and get a prize. skill  level through practice and work. Work ethics is not something that a person develops when they just get a prize by doing nothing. You can make your kids feel all warm and fuzzy and not strive beyond the bench, or they can get a real life lesson by earning it and get a real warm feeling of accomplishment. Martial Arts disciplines the mind to attain that self accomplishment through practice and work. What kind of world would we have if no one was willing to work towards their goals. If we expected the food on the table to just show up and not know ow it was made or who made it. What kind of job can we expect our child to have who does not have a good work ethics and thinks its just going to be given to them. How will their life be better, is that not what we want for our child a better life.

What motivation to be better will a person have if they never lost at a game, what drive would be shown by someone that got a trophy for bench warming. Martial Arts teaches you to attain a

If we just hand things over to them then we may think that it is better with the instant joy. When  the reality is we are denying them the ability to survive in the real world. Some Martial Arts schools focus on kicking or punching, some on the weapons and attacks. The real Martial Artist is the one who has learned, how to learn, how to be taught, how to fall down dust themselves off and keep fighting. Fighting for them or what they are trying to succeed in, isn't that what we really want for or children the ability to succeed. With the everybody wins attitude is that really teaching our kids how to succeed.

Stress.....

Oh my the word alone can trigger a headache, we have so many possible avenues of stress from job related, to social, to financial. We use he word stress when we feel that we are overloaded, that things or a thing has become way to much. In some terms stress is a difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension, another is the reactions to adverse stimuli, physical or mental. Now we can dig deeper into the effects of stress disorders via biological or psychological  and research for days weeks and years without the definitive one reason or the quick fix. There is no one reaction to stress there is the many different reactions. Some people eat to channel the stress, not a positive way to react but there are not many positive reactions to stress. Another reaction is the one of many physical reactions hives, breaking out (acne). Not to say that  puberty and the changes from kids to teen is not a stress free zone. Acne at that part of life can be said caused from stress, for some it is the stress of body changes and the mental oh my goodness steps in and the child goes what is going on, but that is another avenue of discussion for another day. Stress does not directly cause high blood pressure but the fight or flight that our bodies go through under stress does increase the heart rate and constrict blood vessels. This a temporary reaction to the situation when the stress reaction goes away we go back to normal blood pressure. On the flip side the modern world we live in today can have many stressful events that we are unable to handle with that reaction. Now we have a chronic stress situation and our bodies go into high gear (shall we say) on and off for days or even weeks at a time. Negative reaction to this is the over eating, drinking alcohol, or smoking and that leads to the possibility of high blood pressure, heart disease, and unhealthy weight gain. Martial Arts is a good stress relief option for several reasons, first it is a physical exercise you are moving with all the punching and kicking.Hitting a target  is a great stress relief, to channel all that emotion in one focal point and release is awesome. Secondly there is the mental sides of Martial Arts the discipline to be aware of situations and how to handle them. Along with that focus there is the time to sit and meditate, this is a relaxation moment.

Meditation is a great tool for stress relief' relaxing and letting the worries of the day go. Now a days with the work and family life we need to take a moment for ourselves in a physical activity such as Martial Arts and reap the rewards of a healthier lifestyle. These rewards are for us but also our families, children, and spouses by being around to enjoy the family dynamics.
You sweat  releasing toxins in the body and you are moving which gets the blood flowing to all the parts of you.

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Confidence the great Anti-Bully.

Bullying is the use of force to intimidate, threat , or aggressively impose domination over others. It consists of 3 types of abuse verbal, physical, or emotional. Bullies do this to get self esteem or feel empowered so as to hide their own shame or feeling of jealousy. Some bullies have been bullied themselves and hide it by finding someone to bully to again regain control of their lives. Some have a hard home life and lack the self confidence themselves to be sociable. So back to the word confidence, certitude, assurance, self-reliance, belief in oneself. This one attitude or belief makes for a powerful tool or remedy in the world of bullying. If you have the confidence it shows in every aspect of your life. Shows from the way you walk, the way you talk how you carry yourself. Do you have your head up that's confidence. Walking around with head down is lack of confidence or some determine a social fear. the people that try to make it through with out being seen are usually the ones getting bullied. That is what a bully looks for low esteem to boost their low esteem or social ineptness. On the other side of the coin a person with confidence does not feel the need to bully a person or the situation. The sureness they feel in one self helps them to reach their goals on their own merits and not impose their will through threats. With their poise and leadership quality will have others wanting to help or follow, as opposed to demeaning a person to do what he or she wants. Martial Arts helps with self confidence through proper assurance and reinforcement.

A student joins a group that helps each other through out the class and outside of the classes as well. Not only does that support help the student but the individual achievements helps the self esteem more. Martial Arts shows you the way to do the kick but your the one doing the kick. The Instructor holds the target and ever so often increases its height or distance but you are the one hitting that target at that distance or height. Martial Arts is not the sit on the bench and get a trophy style sport. Martial Arts is the close knit group with individual accolades and accomplishments.  Martial Arts develops leadership qualities in individuals that follows the student for the rest of their life. Choe's HapKiDo has made society better one black belt at a time.